☸️ The truth about Passion flower and Passion fruit.

🪷 Passion vines, passion flowers, and passion fruits - these are all Passiflora - fascinating plants with a rich history. These vines come from tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas.

🪷 Medicinal: Various parts of the passion vine have been used in traditional medicine to treat ailments such as anxiety, insomnia, and hypertension.

🪷 Host for Butterflies: Passion vines serve as host plants for several butterfly species.

🪷 Passion of Christ: the passion flower's complex structure with five sepals, five petals often used to symbolize the Passion of Christ in Christian tradition. Spanish Christian missionaries in South America saw the flower's structure as a representation of Christ's crucifixion, which led to the name Passion Flower.

🪷 Passion Fruit (Passiflora edulis) - Maracuya - is highly nutritious, rich in vitamins A and C, fiber, and antioxidants.

🪷 Delicious pulp: the fruit is popular in many cuisines around the world, used in beverages, desserts.

🪷 Two main types of passion fruit: the purple sweeter variety (Passiflora edulis) and the yellow variety larger and more acidic (Passiflora x flavicarpa).

🪷 Fast growing vine in no time: known for their rapid growth, Passifloras need strong support as they can quickly cover large areas.

📚 Learn more: The Passion Fruit – Juicy Maracuya

🛒 Shop Passiflora plants

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💋 What is lipstick made of? Lipstick plant!

💄Bixa orellana - Lipstick Tree, Annatto or Achiote - is a bushy shrub or a small tree South America with large, impressive leaves, charming pink flowers and amazing... seeds! It is used in various industries, including cosmetics and culinary arts.

💄Natural Pigment: The seeds of the Bixa plant contain a natural pigment called annatto, which ranges in color from yellow to deep orange-red.

💄Cosmetic Use: Annatto is commonly used in cosmetics, including lipstick, due to its vibrant coloration. It adds shades of red and orange to cosmetic products. Extract derived from the Bixa seeds is mixed with other ingredients to achieve desired shades. It provides a natural alternative to synthetic dyes.

💄Famous spice Annatto is widely used as a spice in cooking, particularly in Latin American, Caribbean, and Filipino cuisines.

💄Flavor and color: It imparts a mild, slightly peppery flavor and is prized for its ability to add a rich, yellow-orange color to dishes such as rice, stews, and sauces.

💄Health benefits: Beyond its culinary use, annatto seeds have medicinal properties, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

💄Flower arrangements: The dried seed pods add a unique touch to flower arrangements, enhancing their visual appeal.

💄Hedge or screen: Ideal for use as a hedge or screen, Bixa requires frequent pruning to encourage bushy growth at the base.

🛒 Grow your own Annatto

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💐 What is the best flowering shrub for a shady spot?

🚩 Aphelandra is hands down one of the best solutions for a shade garden where you want to see more colors. It is a great addition to a collectible tropical butterfly garden, can grow into 4-5" tall bushy specimen. Tolerates both sun and shade.

🚩Aphelandras have beautiful lush foliage and showy, long terminal inflorescences throughout the warm season.

🚩These flowers are loved by hummingbirds.

🚩Aphelandra hartwegiana - Yellow Aphelandra. Yellow flowers emerge out of long orange stalks in the fall time. Pretty and unusual!

🚩Aphelandra squarrosa Dania (Snow White) - White Zebra Plant. It is also one of the best house plants, not only pretty because of its white-veined "Zebra" foliage, but also for the apical inflorescence with its beautiful yellow bracts.

🚩Aphelandra sinclairiana - Panama Queen, has extremely tropical look and fragrant flowers of unusual color combination: orange and pink.

🚩Aphelandra x panamensis - Scarlet Candle - a rare hybrid with bright red flowers

📚 Learn more from previous posts:
Panama Queen
How to grow Zebra in container?

🛒 Shop Aphelandras

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